Laurita Winery Visit — New Jersey's Most Ambitious Estate and a July Afternoon Worth Remembering

I'll be honest: I didn't know what to expect from Laurita Winery. I'd heard it described as "the Napa of New Jersey," which is the kind of phrase that can mean almost anything — sometimes it's a genuine compliment, sometimes it's marketing copy that doesn't survive contact with reality. After spending a July afternoon on the property, I can report that the description is, if anything, underselling it. Laurita is one of the most impressive wine estates I've visited anywhere on the East Coast, and the wines are better than most people outside New Jersey know.

Laurita sits at 85 Archertown Road in New Egypt, in the heart of Burlington County — about an hour south of Newark and 90 minutes from New York City. The drive through central Jersey is more scenic than the state's reputation suggests: rolling farmland, horse country, and the kind of quiet rural landscape that makes you forget the Turnpike exists.

The entrance announces itself. A long driveway lined with vines opens onto a grand estate building — stone, timber, and glass — that looks like it was transplanted from Sonoma. The parking lot was full on the Saturday I visited, which tells you something about how seriously New Jersey wine drinkers take this place.

Laurita was founded in 2002 by Ray and MaryEllen Shea, who converted a working horse farm into what is now one of the largest and most ambitious wine estates in New Jersey. The property covers 158 acres, with 28 acres under vine — certified organic since 2016, making Laurita one of the few certified organic wineries in the state.

The organic commitment is visible everywhere. The vineyard rows are clean and well-tended, with cover crops between the vines and no chemical residue in the air. The Sheas have spoken publicly about the decision to go organic as both a farming philosophy and a quality choice — they believe the wines express the land more honestly without synthetic inputs. Walking the property, it's hard to argue with the results.

The estate also hosts a full events calendar — weddings, concerts, harvest festivals — which explains the scale of the main building and the well-organized visitor infrastructure. On a summer weekend, Laurita operates more like a destination than a tasting room, and it handles the volume gracefully.

The main building is genuinely beautiful. High ceilings, exposed wood beams, stone floors, and a long bar that looks out over the vineyard through floor-to-ceiling windows. There's an outdoor terrace for warm-weather tastings, which is where I spent most of my afternoon — a glass of Rosé in hand, the vines stretching out in front of me, the kind of scene that makes you want to stay longer than you planned.

The staff were warm and knowledgeable without being scripted. My host had clearly spent time in the vineyard and could speak to the farming decisions behind each wine — the kind of depth you don't always find at high-volume tasting rooms. She walked me through the organic certification process and explained how the winery manages disease pressure without fungicides, which in New Jersey's humid summers is no small feat.

Laurita produces a wide range of wines — whites, reds, rosé, and dessert wines — from both estate-grown and sourced fruit. I focused on the estate wines, which are where the winery's identity is most clearly expressed.

The perfect summer opener. Pale salmon in the glass, with a nose of fresh strawberry, watermelon, and a faint floral note. On the palate, it was dry and crisp, with bright acidity and a clean, refreshing finish. This is not a serious wine in the cellar-worthy sense — it's a wine for a July afternoon on a terrace, and it does that job better than almost anything I've had from the East Coast. Drink now.

Score: 89 points

Unoaked, which is the right call for New Jersey Chardonnay. The 2024 showed green apple, lemon zest, and a mineral quality that I suspect comes from the sandy loam soils. The palate was lean and focused, with good acidity and a clean finish. It reminded me of a well-made Chablis in structure, if not in complexity. A genuinely honest wine. Drink now through 2027.

Score: 88 points

This is the wine that made me sit up straight. New Jersey Cabernet Franc has been quietly improving for years, and Laurita's version is among the best I've tasted from the state. The 2023 opened with classic Cab Franc aromatics — red cherry, dried herbs, a hint of green pepper that was present but not dominant — and on the palate, the wine was structured and precise, with firm tannins, bright acidity, and a savory, earthy finish that lingered. The organic farming shows here: the fruit is clean and expressive, without the over-ripeness that can flatten East Coast reds.

This is a wine that rewards food. I'd pair it with roast chicken, lamb chops, or a good mushroom risotto.

Score: 91 points

Plush and approachable, with dark plum, mocha, and a hint of vanilla from the oak. The tannins were soft and well-integrated, the finish medium-long. This is a crowd-pleasing wine in the best sense — it doesn't demand anything from you, but it delivers more than you expect. Drink now through 2028.

Score: 89 points

The flagship red, and the wine that best demonstrates what Laurita is capable of when the vintage cooperates. The 2021 was a warm, dry year in New Jersey — ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon — and the result is a wine with real concentration and structure. Dark cassis, cedar, a hint of tobacco, and a long, firm finish. The tannins are still a little grippy, which tells you this wine has more to give. Cellar it for two or three more years and it will be something special.

Score: 92 points

Most New Jersey wineries are working hard to be taken seriously. Laurita has already arrived. The scale of the investment — in the vineyard, the building, the organic certification, the events infrastructure — signals a long-term commitment to quality that you don't see everywhere. The wines back it up.

The organic farming is the differentiator that matters most to me. In a region where humidity and disease pressure make conventional farming the path of least resistance, choosing to go organic is a genuine statement of intent. The wines taste like it — cleaner, more expressive, more honest about where they come from.

The price points are also worth noting. The estate wines run from around $20 for the Rosé to $45 for the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. For the quality on offer, that's fair value by any standard, and exceptional value compared to what you'd pay for equivalent wines from Napa or Sonoma.

Address: 85 Archertown Road, New Egypt, NJ 08533

Hours: Thursday–Friday 12pm–6pm, Saturday–Sunday 11am–6pm. Check the website for seasonal hours and event closures.

Reservations: Walk-ins welcome for standard tastings; reservations recommended on summer weekends, which fill up quickly.

Tasting options:

• Flight Tasting (~$20): Five wines of your choice. The right starting point.
• Reserve Tasting (~$35): Focuses on the estate reserve wines. Worth it if you want to taste the top of the lineup.
• Private experiences available by arrangement.

What to buy: The Cabernet Franc is the must-buy — it's the wine that best represents what New Jersey can do, and it's priced to drink rather than collect. The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is worth cellaring if you have the patience.

Don't miss: The outdoor terrace on a summer afternoon. Bring a picnic — the property is beautiful, the staff is welcoming, and the Rosé was made for exactly this situation.

Laurita Winery is the kind of place that changes how you think about a wine region. Before I visited, I thought of New Jersey wine as a pleasant regional curiosity — worth trying, not worth seeking out. After an afternoon at Laurita, I think I had it wrong. The estate is serious, the farming is serious, and the wines — particularly the Cabernet Franc and the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon — are genuinely good by any standard, not just by East Coast standards.

If you're within driving distance of central New Jersey and you care about wine, this is a trip worth making. Go in summer, sit on the terrace, order the Rosé, and then work your way through the reds. You'll leave with a different opinion of Garden State wine.

Visited July 2026. All wines tasted on-site. Tasting fee paid by the author.